Omak Food Bank

Mission

The Omak Food Bank has been serving Okanogan County, Washington since 1982. Okanogan County is the largest of 39 counties within the state of Washington. Our county has a poverty level in excess of 28%. We are a community of farmers, ranchers, orchardists and hard working men and women who still value the traditions upon which our county was founded. Many of our community members work labor-intensive jobs to support their families. However, in the past few years, the economy and agricultural markets have plummeted. The effects have left more and more of our community members in need of our services, just to keep food on the table. Helping to fill that need is the purpose and motivation for our request for funds through this grant. It has the potential to help hundreds of families in our community who are at risk for going hungry. Our goal is to provide adequate food resources to meet the daily nutritional requirements suggested by the USDA.

The Omak Food Bank helps over 43,000 individuals, annually, to meet these nutritional needs. Currently, we are open two days per week. We distributed in excess of 130,011 lbs of perishable and non-perishable food items in 2014. Since 1982, we have operated solely on donations and volunteer help -- 100% in both cases. We are now at the cross roads. We are not able to meet all the needs of the local community; we are in need of additional funding for operating expenses.